Worksheet 2: Egyptian Religion
- Information on Egyptian religion, including some
of the most common gods

Egyptian Religion

For the Egyptians, there were many gods and they were all very important.

The earliest settlers along the Nile worshipped gods of natural things like:

the sun

the wind

the inundation

These were things they could not control and thererfore did not fully understand.
They felt sure that if they prayed to the gods whom they believed controlled
these things then they would be looked after. these settlers also worshipped
gods of the things they admired like strength, or feared like the ferocity of
wild animals ( such as the lion).

As civilisation grew, every town and village had its own god which only the
local people worshipped. However, as time went on some of the local gods became
very important to everyone.

Eye of Ra jewellery using carnellion and lapis lazuli

AMON-RA

A combination of two gods - Amon the god of the city of Thebes and Ra the sun
god. Amon Ra was believed to have been the creator (maker) of man

Osiris wearing the death mask - white representing death

OSIRIS

The god of the earth, growth and the underworld. The Egyptians believed that
Osiris was once the ruler of Egypt but was killed by his brother Seth in a fit
of jealous anger. Seth then took over as ruler. It was said that Osiris was
born again every year and the flooding of the Nile. On his death it was thought
that Osiris became god of the underworld and that he had the power to give Egyptians
life after death.

ISIS

Isis is represented in heirogylphs by the throne. The protector of children
and wife of Osiris. Isis and Osiris were believed to have had a child named
Horus.

Jewellery: Horus the God of Upper Egypt

HORUS

The falcon god
The child of Isis and Osiris, was the god of life.

Anubis protecting the Pharoah's sarcophagus

ANUBIS

The jackal-headed god of death and ruler of embalmers, cemeteries and tombs.
Usually represented in canine form - dog or jackal - Anubis was the principal
god of the dead before Osiris. He was closely associated with the necropolis
and known as "God of the Hallowed Land". Representations of Anubis
were placed in teh tomb to guard the mummification
chamber and frighten away evil.

HATHOR

Represented by the Bull, She is the protectress of women, and goddess of joy
and love

THOTH

Representations of this god as ibis headed, baboon or god of the moon. Of great
importance to the Eygptians was his role as god of writing and patron of scribes,since
language was considered to be a gift direct from the gods. The god-baboon is
often represented watching over a crouching subservient scribe.
The ibis-headed god of learning and scribe of the gods.

The whole observable world was , for the Ancient Egyptians, a symbolic representation.
From the sun and the river Nile, which gave them food and sustenance, to the
animal kingdom and even architecture, different phenomena were seen to have
hidden meanings. symbolism, at its deepest level, was the means by which the
Egyptians interpreted the nature of life itself - the creation, the after-life
and struggle between good and evil.

SETH

A desert animal with an arrow-like tail or crocodile
Brother of Osiris who killed him in a fit of jealousy and anger. At the end
of the ritual where a person's heart is weighed against a feather. If the person
has been good they go to heaven via a boat across the Celestial Nile and become
a star. If the person is bad they are fed to Seth. The crocodile was seen as
an agent of disorder ans ws associated wit the evil god Seth.

Nut the sky god and protector of the Heavens

NUT

Mother of the Sungod - swallowed the Sun in the evening and regurgitated in
the morning - resurrection concept
Mother of all the heavenly bodies which entered her mouth and emerged again
from the womb, the sky goodess. Nut is usually represented arching over Shu,
her father, god of air, and Geb, her husband and brother, god of the earth,
who helps to support her. As the goddess of the cyclical working of the cosmos.
Nut was also intimately connected to the idea of resurrection. The sarcophagus
and tomb chamber were often decorated with stars and the goddess's image.

TEFNUT

MAAT

Goddess of creation and constant renewal. She symbolized the laws of existence,
- law, truth, and world order. Judges were thought of as the priests of Maat.
She was food and drink to Re. She was represented wearing an ostrich feather,
which came to be a symbol of truth. The feather was weighed against the heart
of the dead person in the judgement ritual before Anubis.

Ka holds up the arms of spiritual power

KA

Intellectual and spiritual power. Each person was born with his or her ka,
which was a constant companion through life and lived on after death, returning
to its divine origin.

BA

Pyschic force. The ba bird was the spiritual aspect fo the human which survived
death.

ANHK

Symbol of life and irresistable strength, representative of life-giving attributes
of air and water

Khepri the Scarab beetle, symbol of reincarnation

KHREPRI

The scarab - symbol of self-creation, the scarab was believed to come directly
into being from the alls of animal dung which it used to protect is eggs and
larva. Associated with the sun nd therfore with life-giving warmth and light,
pettery models fo the scarab were often placed in tombs as a symbol of the renewal
of life. Agin, in its solar role, the scarb represented the morning sun in its
godform of Khepri. In his beetle form the god rose as the morning sun from the
eastern horizon. A strong life god, Khepri also symbolized resurrection

LOTUS

The symbol of the remerging sun after the night and assciated with the sun
god Re, who is sometimes seen as a golden youth rising from the lotus. Thus
the flow, especially the blue lotus, also came to symbolize rebirth.